Orioles scout fired as part of gambling probe

NEW YORK  The Baltimore Orioles fired a high-ranking scout after Major League Baseball's newly formed investigative unit linked him to a gambling probe.

MLB was asked for assistance in the gambling inquiry about six months ago by the New York Police Department, a person with knowledge of the investigation said Friday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have authority to speak publicly.

The fired scout, Alan Marr, was national cross-checker for the Orioles and the top person listed in the team's scouting directory. The gambling investigation that led to his firing first was reported Friday by SI.com.

MLB's investigative unit is still actively investigating scouts as part of the gambling probe. There has been no indication games were fixed, the person with knowledge of the probe said.

Andy MacPhail, the Orioles president for baseball operations, declined to go into the reasons for Marr's firing.

"He's no longer our employee. That's all I can say," MacPhail said.

Marr declined to comment when reached at his home in Sarasota, Fla. His firing first was reported by The (Baltimore) Sun on July 4.

There was no indication whether the gambling investigation implicating Marr involved bets on baseball.

Under MLB rules, players, umpires and club officials or employees who bet on baseball games in which they have "no duty to perform" are subject to one-year suspensions. Players, umpires and club or league officials and employees who bet of games in which they have "a duty to perform" are subject to lifetime bans.

Pete Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after MLB concluded he had bet on the Cincinnati Reds while managing the team.

Marr formerly was a scout for the San Francisco Giants and signed Joe Nathan, who had been an infielder at Stony Brook in New York. Nathan is now the Minnesota Twins closer.

The gambling probe is unrelated to MLB's investigation into whether scouts and other personnel might have taken money from signing bonuses given to Latin-American players.

It also is not related to the NBA's scandal involving referee Tim Donaghy, who pleaded guilty last year to felony charges alleging he took cash payoffs from gamblers and bet on games himself.